This invention relates generally to a cupholder apparatus for an automobile and, more particularly, to a flip-out cupholder formed as part of the forward edge of the central part of the vehicle seat.
Cupholders are a common convenience found in most automobiles today. Cupholders can be found in a variety of places in different automobiles, including in the front control panel or dash, near the gear shift lever, in a central console to be opened either forwardly or rearwardly. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,363, issued to Bill Teller, et al., the cupholder is mounted in the forward portion of the vehicle seat in cooperation with a spring-loaded mechanism for extracting the cupholder from a closed position housed within the seat structure to an outwardly projected operative position. Similarly, the cupholder in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,908, issued to Ronald A. Dykstra, et al., projects from a retracted, stowed position by a spring mechanism to move the cupholder into an extended operative position. In both of these cupholder devices, the spring mechanism is subject to wear and abuse, tending to cause the cupholder to break and, therefore, to malfunction.
Another form of cupholders can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,514, issued to Patrick J. Carlsen, et al., which is formed as a major portion of a structure, such as a center console that pivotally moves from a stored position in which the inoperative cupholder functions as the other structure, i.e. the center console, but can be pivoted into an operative position in which the purpose as the former structure is converted and no longer usable as such. In other words, such cupholders can be used either as a cupholder or as the other structure in which the cupholder is hidden. Similarly, the cupholder in U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,820, issued to Robert Hecht, et al., converts the rear center seat console into a cupholder by a pivotal movement of the structure, thus obliterating the usefulness of the structure as anything other than a cupholder when pivoted into the operative position. Likewise, the converted center console shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,096, issued to Rick A. Anderson, et al., can be pivoted into an operative cupholder, and tray assembly, though destroying the operative use of the center console as a support.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,953, issued to Bruce B. Bober, et al., is representative of another form of cupholder in which the cupholder can be collapsed into the wall of a structure, such as the rear wall of the center console of the front seat assembly of a vehicle, and pivoted into an outwardly extended operative position. Such cupholders are typically formed as a pivoted door member that is movable into an operative position to expose a minimalistic cupholder. To save space when in the stored position, such cupholders typically provide for a pivoted substructure that can be moved into a position to form the container holder structure, such as is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,908 (Dykstra).
It would be desirable to provide a cupholder assembly that can be formed as the front edge of a seat so as to be operable to function as a support portion of the seat when in the closed position, but when pivoted into an operative position exposes not only a cupholder but a storage area for the support of another disposable member, such as a fast food bag.
It is an object of this invention to provide a cupholder apparatus that is formed as the forward portion of the vehicle seat when in a stowed, inoperative position.
It is another object of this invention to provide a cupholder structure that when moved into the opened, operative position exposes an open support space of a size for the placement of fast food containers.
It is a feature of this invention that the cupholder is provided with a three-tiered configuration to accommodate a wide range of sizes of cups, mugs and other containers.
It is an advantage of this invention that the cupholder is configured to receive different sizes of containers within the container holder structure.
It is another feature of this invention that the cupholder is concealed within the structure of the seat when in a stowed, inoperative position.
It is another advantage of this invention that the seat structure can be used as a seating support whenever the cupholder is placed into the stowed, inoperative position.
It is still another feature of this invention that the cupholder can be concealed by a piece of leather attached to the cupholder causing the cupholder to appear to be an integral part of the seat structure.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a cupholder apparatus that is formed as part of the seat structure to be located in an ergonomically accessible location for the driver of the vehicle.
It is yet another feature of this invention that the cupholder apparatus is positioned advantageously to avoid blocking the controls for the radio or other devices on the front console of the vehicle.
It is yet another object of this invention to form the cupholder apparatus so that the cupholder will be positioned immediately above the surface of the floor carpet so as to obtain support therefrom when in the opened, operative position.
It is still another advantage of this invention that the opened cupholder obtaining support from the floor carpet of the vehicle will have vibrations reduced thereby.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a flip-out cupholder apparatus that incorporated a breakaway hinge to protect the cupholder from abusive loads imposed thereon during usage in the opened, operative position.
It is yet another feature of this invention that the breakaway hinge incorporates a stop mechanism that arrests movement of the flip-out cupholder apparatus when the cupholder apparatus moves into the opened, operative position.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a cupholder apparatus formed as the front support edge of a vehicle seat which is durable in construction, inexpensive of manufacture, carefree of maintenance, facile in assemblage, and simple and effective in use.
These and other objects, features and advantages are accomplished according to the instant invention by providing a cupholder assembly which forms the forward support edge of an automotive vehicle seat. The cupholder assembly includes a lid member that is pivotally movable into an opened, operative position in which the lid member is positioned to rest on the vehicle floor carpet immediately beneath the cupholder to minimize vibrations and to provide support therefor. The cupholder assembly is formed with a breakaway hinge incorporating a stop mechanism to cease the rotation of the cupholder when the lid member is moved into the operative position. A three-tiered container holder structure accommodates a wide variety of sizes of cups, mugs and other drink containers. Once the lid member is pivoted into the open, operative position, an open support area of sufficient size to accommodate fast food containers is exposed immediately behind the container holders. When in the closed, inoperative position, the lid member exposes an outer surface covered with the same material as the automotive vehicle seat so as to appear to be an integral part of the seat structure.